


Phantasm

by yoshiya



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Drabble, Established Relationship, M/M, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Post-Canon, Undead, Wings, or lack thereof
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-31 03:49:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13966707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yoshiya/pseuds/yoshiya
Summary: Neku wonders about Joshua's wings.





	Phantasm

**Author's Note:**

> baby's first fic! i've never used this site before so sorry if tags/formatting is weird. be gentle on my weary soul.  
> a prime example of what you can basically begin to expect on this account--short, exploratory pieces without a ton of direction. also, joshua-centric. i don't necessarily think this idea is canon/likely, but i thought it'd be fun to look at.  
> enjoy!

Joshua's back is, for the most part, smooth and unblemished. A pale blue tint beneath the skin, a faint sense of something unnatural--like marble, and just as cold to the touch. His chest doesn't rise and fall to the rhythm of the breath he never takes. It'd be startling if he wasn't used to it by now.  
  
Neku runs his fingers along the spine, pausing just at the shoulder blades.  
  
"Hey, Josh."  
  
"Mm?"  
  
"Do you have wings?"  
  
There are two indents in Joshua's back, slightly darker than his skin. The flesh in these divots is uneven, looking like multiple layers had been peeled away and left open to the air.  
  
"What do you think?"  
  
"C'mon, Josh."  
  
Joshua sighs, but relents.  
  
"I do not, in fact, have wings. Not anymore, at least."  
  
Neku's fingers idle between the divots, not yet wanting to touch.  
  
"So you did once, then?"  
  
Joshua's laying on his side, facing away from him, but Neku can hear the stupid, smug look on his face.  
  
"What an astute observation, detective Neku! You'll solve this case yet."  
  
"Shut up." A pause.  
  
"Were you a reaper?"  
  
"I wonder."  
  
Neku knew better than to expect much else than that. He was quiet for a few moments, looking harder, as if staring at them would reveal something of consequence.  
  
"Have you read the Bible, Neku? Both God and his angels are described as having wings, but God's form is supposed to be beyond human comprehension." Joshua turns his head over his shoulder, looking at Neku with a smile more esoteric than ever. "It's a metaphor for protection. The faithful trust him; he will catch them. Isn't that quaint?"  
  
"That doesn't really explain anything. If you had wings at one point, how did you get...these?" Neku ghosts a fingertip over one of the dents, apprehensive.  
  
"Why don't you guess?"  
  
Neku doesn't secede to Joshua's typical, but no less annoying avoidance. "Okay. My guess is that you were a reaper, and your wings got...I don't know, removed? These look like scars, Josh."  
  
"Hmm, okay. Let's assume that's true. What of it?"  
  
Neku scratches the back of his neck. "I mean, nothing, I guess. It just seems kind of weird they'd take them away."  
  
"Mm." Joshua stretches, languid, the muscles in his back flexing pointedly. Neku observes them not without a little appreciation. "Think of it this way. Wings are connected to a reaper's Soul--but they're relatively self-contained. Me, on the other hand...let's just say I have my fingers in many pies."  
  
"You still _have_ a soul, right? And I don't get it."  
  
"Hilarious. But it's really not hard to understand, you know. My Soul extends much farther than myself, is all. My body, my reapers, my river, the entire UG and RG--" Joshua's hand waves in emphasis, "--are all a part of me. I am inextricably woven into the fabric of Shibuya, Neku." There's a distinct note of eminence in his tone, but he smiles the same flat smirk as always. "You could even say I _am_ Shibuya."  
  
"That's....a lot."  
  
"Feeling very eloquent tonight, I see."  
  
Neku frowns, predictably. "No, I just--that's just a lot of things. So if your Soul is connected to all of those...what's stopping you from having wings?"  
  
Joshua finally rolls onto his back, depriving Neku of the sight of his scars, but in turn giving back that shady signature smile that Neku has come to tolerate. Deep purple eyes, ever piercing, lock with his own.  
  
"Shibuya is my wings. She is everything. I don't _need_ them. And it would be inconvenient to have wings miles long to show that, not that that's a particularly accurate way of putting it. Do you understand now, dear?"  
  
Neku finally lays down next to Joshua, tiring of sitting over him. He lays an arm across him, which apparently pleases Joshua, leaning into Neku immediately.  
  
"Did it hurt? Losing your wings, I mean." Neku bites his lip, slight and quick. "Since they...uh, don’t look like a clean sever, y’know."  
  
Joshua's smile widens, just barely.  
  
"No."  
  
Neku wonders, vaguely, if he isn't being told the whole story. But he's not about to press, because even if he felt like it, Joshua is not someone who can be pressed to begin with.  
  
"Does it ever hurt still?"  
  
"Mm, no. but I still have feeling in them." Joshua closes his eyes, head resting on Neku's shoulder.  
  
Neku mirrors, relaxing together. "Like phantom limbs?"  
  
"Hee hee. Sometimes."  
  
Neku gives a noncommittal noise. The other laughs again, teasing as ever, but doesn't say a word, opting to just let him rest against him. Joshua's body gives no warmth, but Neku doesn't seem to complain.


End file.
